A prominently featured article by prestigious correspondent Scott Wilson in the Washington Post gratuitously maligned Israel. The article For Israel's Arab Citizens, Isolation and Exclusion ran on page A01 on December 20, 2007 and told a tale of woe and misery. Such articles usually abound in half-truths and distortions, but this one contained at least one outright falsehood. Wilson wrote, "Except for a relatively small Druze population, Arabs are excluded also from military service." Of course, it is not true. The Israeli army has Bedouin and city-dwelling* Arab volunteers. No amount of pleading with the Washington Post ombudsman could elicit a retraction, as Wilson insisted that his fable is correct. So here's the story.

Judge for yourself, folks. A picture is worth - well OK, you know what a picture is worth.

In this photo released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Christian Arab Israeli soldiers get their Christmas gifts from their commanding officer Lt.Col. Wasaffi (R) as their Jewish and Bedouin Arab comrades gather around their Christmas tree in their base December 21, 2005 near Kerem Shalom in southern Israel. All the non-Jewish soldiers serving in this unit, the Bedouin Trackers Brigade, are volunteers to the IDF. (Photo by IDF via Getty Images)

. Are you ever going to believe anything Scott Wilson writes again?

Ami Isseroff

*In Israel, only urbanized Arabs of the Christian and Muslim religions are often called Arabs. Druze and Bedouin are often listed separately, though they are all Arabs of course.

Only in a true democracy would you find Arabs celebrating Christmas while serving in the military for a nation that all it's totalitarian Arab neighbors hate with a passion tantamount to genocide. When will those neighbors wake up?

Constructive comments, including corrections, are welcome. Do not use this space for spam, publishing articles, self promotion, racism, anti-Zionist propaganda or character defamation. Inappropriate comments will be deleted. See our Comment policy for details. By posting here, you agree to the Comment policy.